box score
audio - coach john thompson III, jessie sapp, jonathan wallace & roy hibbert
Georgetown won the marathon, but Pittsburgh won the sprint.
The Panthers became the first seven seed to slug through all four days of the Big East Tournament, grabbing 19 offensive rebounds in a 74-65 win over the Big East regular season champion Hoyas.
Ronald Ramon scored a team-best 17 points in the 100th victory for Pittsburgh's senior class. Tournament Most Outstanding Player Sam Young recorded 16 points and DeJuan Blair added 10 along with 10 rebounds, seven on the offensive glass.
Georgetown center Roy Hibbert had 17 in the defeat, classmate Jonathan Wallace adding 12.
The loss denied Hoya head coach John Thompson III his 100th victory as head man at Georgetown.
"[Pittsburgh] hurt us on the boards. It was evident right from the beginning," said Thompson after the game. "I thought our guys fought and scrapped but the rebounding was key."
Twice in the first half Georgetown opened up a six point lead, and each time Pittsburgh responded with an 8-0 run.
Jeremiah Rivers came away with a steal and tossed an outlet pass to Patrick Ewing Jr that Ewing dished off to DaJuan Summers for a two-handed finish. The Hoyas were up 11-5. Gibert Brown snatched an offensive rebound and hit a mid-range baseline jumper while being fouled by Rivers to cut the lead in half and Brown's triple tied the score. Following a missed three point shot by Georgetown's Austin Freeman, Brown drove and converted, whistled for an offensive foul that occurred after the short floater had left his hand. Pittsburgh now led for the first time, by two with 11:46 left in the half.
Freeman gave Georgetown the lead back with a three pointer of his own off a Jessie Sapp assist and when Sapp used a high ball screen to size up a deep jumper of his own the Hoyas were in front 22-16. Ramon's three point shot from the top of the arc started the second batch of eight unanswered by Pitt. Tyrell Biggs, just in off the bench, hit a free throw line jumper to give the Panthers the lead again at 23-22.
Hibbert drove right through the lane with a right-handed hook to the tie score at 26 but Fields gave Pittsburgh a lead that Georgetown would spend the rest of the game chasing when he connected from outside as Jonathan Wallace could not extend his arm to defend in time.
Pittsburgh raced off the floor up 31-28 as Ewing's patience under his team's basket was rewarded with a pass to a cutting Summers that closed the first half scoring.
The Hoyas were within one possession despite giving up 11 offensive boards and being outrebounded 20-11.
Georgetown had the ball when play resumed and went inside to Hibbert, who could not convert a hook against single coverage. At the other end a long jumper by Fields took the lead back up to five and DeJuan Blair made the advantage seven for the first time when he scored after Sapp had the ball stolen by Levance Fields.
A Sapp three made the score 35-33 with 17:18 left, but buckets from Keith Benjamin over Hibbert and a twisting Ramon drive had Pittsburgh up six again.
Georgetown stayed close, thanks in great part to horrific free throw shooting by Pittsburgh and trailed by four at the 11:30 mark on a Hibbert basket. Brown quickly made it a three possession game from outside.
The lead extended to double figures as Sam Young made his first free throw after being fouled by Ewing as he tried to force Young onto the baseline. Young missed the second and Pittsburgh's third attempt to score as they swarmed the offensive glass was banked in by Blair on the weak side as he was fouled by Summers. It was Summers' fifth and disqualifying foul, picked up just three seconds after he had returned to the game from the bench.
A spinning jumper by Benjamin as the shot clock buzzer expired set a high water mark of 55-42 Pittsburgh.
Georgetown had one final run, inching closer possession-by-possession as the Panthers continued to split free throw attempts or come away empty at the line. Hibbert turned and scored off a Freeman assist and was fouled by Blair, drawing the Hoyas within 56-49.
Wallace picked up a steal at the other end of the floor but his three point shot in transition was short of the mark. Vernon Macklin nearly had another Georgetown steal, but the ball was controlled by Fields after being tipped into the backcourt, and Fields found Ramon on the other side of the court for a three that sent Georgetown down 59-49.
After Wallace connected from deep on the right wing with 1:19 left to play, the Hoyas were within five. Fields hit just one of two free throws but Ewing, who had scored and been fouled twice in the previous two minutes, lost the ball into Ramon's hands on his third drive.
Pittsburgh strung together four straight made free throws to hold off the Hoyas and avenge last season's loss in the Big East Tournament final. Georgetown defeated 15 of the 16 teams in the Big East this season but could not solve the harder-working Panthers in either of their meetings. Fields tossed the ball high into the rafters as time expired, the ball falling down to the hardwood unnoticed by the jubilant Panthers, who had rushed onto the floor to celebrate their surprising four day run to the title.
Notes:
-Saturday night's loss was Georgetown's first defeat when seeded first in the Big East Tournament.
-Pittsburgh improved to 6-0 at Madison Square Garden this season.
-The Panthers were a horrible 22-44 (50.0%) from the free throw line against Georgetown.
-Georgetown was outrebounded 41-28 on the night.
-Hibbert and Sapp were both named to the 2008 All Tournament Team.
